Editing Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia

{{Short description|Duke of Bohemia from 921 to 935}}
{{redirect|St. Wenceslas|the 1930 Czechoslovak film|St. Wenceslas (film)}}
{{distinguish|Wenceslaus I of Bohemia}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Wenceslaus I
| image        = Wolfenbüttelský kodex – Gumpoldova legenda – 18v cr.jpg
| caption      = Wenceslaus adored by his niece-in-law [[Emma of Mělník|Emma]] (from the 10th-century Gumpold's Codex)
| succession   = [[Duke of Bohemia]]
| reign        = 13 February 921 −<br/>28 September 935 or 929
| coronation   = 
| cor-type     = 
| predecessor  = [[Vratislaus I, Duke of Bohemia|Vratislaus I]]
| successor    = [[Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia|Boleslaus I]]
| birth_date   = {{circa}} 907<ref>{{cite web |title=Wenceslas I|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wenceslas-I-prince-of-Bohemia|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=2022-05-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sep 28 – St Wenceslaus (907–929) martyr|url=https://www.catholicireland.net/saintoftheday/st-wenceslaus-prince-of-bohemia-907-929-martyr/|publisher=CatholicIreland.net|date=2011-09-28|access-date=2022-05-11}}</ref>{{efn|Most frequently cited year of birth; other cited years are 908<ref name=idnes/> or 911.}}
| death_place  = [[Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav|Stará Boleslav]], Bohemia
| birth_place  = [[Stochov]],{{efn|According to legend; otherwise the place of birth is unknown.<ref name=idnes>{{cite web |title=Svatý Václav se narodil u nás, tvrdí obyvatelé Stochova na Kladensku|url=https://www.idnes.cz/praha/zpravy/svaty-vaclav-se-narodil-u-nas-tvrdi-obyvatele-stochova-na-kladensku.A110927_1658424_praha-zpravy_sfo|publisher=iDnes|language=cs|date=2011-09-28|access-date=2022-05-11}}</ref>}} [[Duchy of Bohemia|Bohemia]]
| death_date   = 28 September 935<br/>(aged {{circa}} 28) or<br/>28 September 929<br/>(aged {{circa}} 22)
| burial_place = Basilica of St. Wenceslaus in Stará Boleslav, [[St. Vitus Cathedral]] in Prague<ref>{{cite news |title=Ostatky sv. Václava jsou po 1076 letech zpět ve Staré Boleslavi|newspaper=Deník.cz |url=https://www.denik.cz/z_domova/ostatky-sv-vaclava-jsou-po-1076-letech-zpet-ve-stare-boleslavi-20140518.html|publisher=Deník.cz, [[Czech News Agency]]|language=cs|date=2014-05-18|access-date=2022-05-11}}</ref>
| house        = [[Přemyslid]]
| father       = [[Vratislaus I, Duke of Bohemia|Vratislaus I]]
| mother       = [[Drahomíra]]
| religion     = [[Chalcedonian Christianity]]
}}
'''Wenceslaus I''' ({{langx|cs|Václav}} {{IPA|cs|ˈvaːtslaf||Cs-svaty Vaclav.ogg}}; {{circa}} 907 – 28 September 935), '''Wenceslas I''' or ''Václav the Good''<ref name=Christiansen>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3674124/The-story-behind-the-carol-Good-King-Wenceslas.html Christiansen, Rupert. "The story behind the carol: Good King Wenceslas", ''The Telegraph'', 14 December 2007]</ref> was the Prince (''[[Knyaz|kníže]]'') of [[Duchy of Bohemia|Bohemia]] from 921 until his death, probably in 935.  According to the legend, he was assassinated by his younger brother, [[Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia|Boleslaus the Cruel]].

His martyrdom and the popularity of several biographies gave rise to a reputation for heroic virtue that resulted in his sainthood. He was posthumously declared to be a king and patron saint of the [[Czech Republic|Czech state]]. He is the subject of the well-known "[[Good King Wenceslas]]", a carol for [[Saint Stephen's Day]].

==Biography==
Wenceslaus was the son of [[Vratislaus I]], Duke of Bohemia from the [[Přemyslid dynasty]]. His grandfather, [[Bořivoj I of Bohemia]], and grandmother, Ludmila, had been converted by [[Cyril and Methodius]] to [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Byzantine Christianity]] in a still unified [[Christendom]], before the [[East–West Schism|Great Schism]]. His mother, [[Drahomíra]], was the daughter of a chief of the [[Havelli]], but was baptized at the time of her marriage. His paternal grandmother, [[Ludmila of Bohemia]], saw to it that he was educated in the [[Old Church Slavonic]] [[liturgical language]] and, at an early age, Wenceslaus was sent to the college at [[Budeč (gord)|Budeč]].<ref name=mershman/>

In 921, when Wenceslaus was about 13, his father died and his grandmother became regent. Jealous of the influence Ludmila wielded over Wenceslaus, Drahomíra arranged to have her killed. Ludmila was at [[Tetín (Beroun District)|Tetín]] Castle near [[Beroun]] when assassins murdered her on 15 September 921. She is said to have been strangled by them with her veil. She was at first buried in the church of St. Michael at Tetín, but her remains were later removed, probably by Wenceslaus,<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09416a.htm Ott, Michael. "St. Ludmilla." ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''] Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, [1910]. 2016</ref> to the [[St. George's Basilica, Prague|church of St. George in Prague]], which had been built by his father.<ref name=Butler/>

Drahomíra then assumed the role of regent and immediately initiated measures against Christians.<ref name=mershman/> When Wenceslaus was 18, those Christian nobles who remained rebelled against Drahomira. The uprising was successful, and Drahomira was sent into exile to Budeč.

===Reign===
[[File:PO1 revers svVaclav92-93.jpg|thumb|Seal of Wenceslaus I]]
With the support of the nobles, Wenceslaus took control of the government.<ref name=Butler>[http://www.bartleby.com/210/9/281.html Butler, Alban. "St. Wenceslas, Duke of Bohemia, Martyr", ''The Lives of the Saints'', Vol. IX 1866]</ref> He reined in the dependent dukes who had become restive under the regency and used Christianity to strengthen his state."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Db76shTEM60C&q=Wenceslaus+I,+Duke+of+Bohemia Agnew, Hugh LeCaine. ''The Czechs and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown''] Palo Alto, California: Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University, 2004. n.p., {{ISBN|9780817944926}}</ref>

After the fall of [[Great Moravia]], the rulers of the Bohemian Duchy had to deal both with continuous raids by the [[Hungarian people|Magyars]] and the forces of the [[Duchy of Saxony|Saxon]] and [[East Francia|East Frankish]] king [[Henry the Fowler]], who had started several eastern campaigns into the adjacent lands of the [[Polabian Slavs]], homeland of Wenceslaus's mother.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Timothy Reuter |last=Reuter |first=Timothy |title=Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056 |location=New York |publisher=Longman |year=1991|page=142 et seq}}</ref> To withstand Saxon overlordship, Wenceslaus's father Vratislaus had forged an alliance with the [[History of Bavaria|Bavarian]] duke [[Arnulf, Duke of Bavaria|Arnulf]], a fierce opponent of King Henry at that time. The alliance became worthless, however, when Arnulf and Henry reconciled at [[Regensburg]] in 921.

Early in 929, the joint forces of Duke Arnulf of Bavaria and King Henry I the Fowler reached [[Prague]] in a sudden attack that forced Wenceslaus to resume the payment of a tribute first imposed by the [[East Francia|East Frankish]] king [[Arnulf of Carinthia]] in 895.<ref name=Krofta>''Bohemia to the Extinction of the Premyslids'', Kamil Krofta, ''The Cambridge Medieval History: Victory of the Papacy'', Vol. VI, ed. J.R. Tanner, C.W. Previt-Orton and Z.N. Brook, (Cambridge University Press, 1957), 426.</ref> Henry had been forced to pay a huge tribute to the Magyars in 926 and needed the Bohemian tribute, which Wenceslaus probably refused to pay after the reconciliation between Arnulf and Henry.<ref name=Krofta/> Another possible reason for the attack was the formation of the anti-Saxon alliance between Bohemia, the Polabian Slavs, and the Magyars.

Wenceslaus introduced German priests into his realm and favoured the Latin rite instead of the old Slavic, which had gone into disuse in many places for want of priests.<ref name=mershman/> He also founded a rotunda consecrated to [[St. Vitus]] at [[Prague Castle]] in [[Prague]] that was the basis of present-day [[St. Vitus Cathedral]].

===Assassination===
[[File:Ermordung Wenzels (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Wenceslaus flees from his brother who is wielding a sword, but the priest closes the door of the church (from Gumpold's Codex)]]

In September 935, a group of nobles allied with Wenceslaus's younger brother Boleslav plotted to kill him. After Boleslav invited Wenceslaus to a celebration of the feast of [[Sts. Cosmas and Damian|Saints Cosmas and Damian]] in [[Stará Boleslav]], three of Boleslav's companions (Tira, Česta, and Hněvsa) fell on the duke and stabbed him to death.<ref name=Newton>[https://books.google.com/books?id=F4-dAwAAQBAJ&dq=wenceslaus+i+duke+of+bohemia&pg=PA628 Newton, Michael. "Wenceslaus I (907–935)", ABC-CLIO, 2014] {{ISBN|9781610692861}}</ref> As the duke fell, Boleslav ran him through with a lance.<ref name=Butler/>

According to [[Cosmas of Prague]], in his ''Chronica Boëmorum'' of the early 12th century, one of Boleslav's sons was born on the day of Wenceslaus's death. Because of the ominous circumstance of his birth, the infant was named [[Strachkvas]], which means "a dreadful feast".<ref name=Newton/>

There is also a tradition that Wenceslaus's loyal servant [[Podevin]] avenged his death by killing one of the chief conspirators, an act for which he was executed by Boleslav.<ref name=gibbs>[https://www.ubishops.ca/wp-content/uploads/1929-1930-Issue3.pdf Gibbs, C.H., "Good King Wenceslaus", ''The Mitre'', Volume XXXVII, No. 3, December 1929, p. 8, University of Bishop's College, Lennoxville, Quebec]</ref>

The assassination of Wenceslaus has been characterized as an important turning point in early Bohemian history, as the rule of Boleslav I saw him renounce the Franks, centralize power in Bohemia and expand the territory of the polity.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Štefan |first1=Ivo |last2=Stránská |first2=Petra |last3=Vondrová |first3=Hana |date=2016 |title=The archaeology of early medieval violence: the mass grave at Budeč, Czech Republic |journal=Antiquity |language=en |volume=90 |issue=351 |pages=759–776 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2016.29 |s2cid=164175193 |issn=0003-598X|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Veneration==
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix= [[Saint]]
|name           = Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, venerated as Saint Wenceslaus or Wenceslas
|birth_date     = c. 907
|death_date     = 28 September 935
|feast_day      = 28 September
|venerated_in   = [[Catholic Church]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]
|image          = Wenzeslaus by Peter Parler.JPG
|imagesize      = 200px
|caption        = Statue of Saint Wenceslaus in [[St. Vitus Cathedral]], Prague
|birth_place    = [[Prague]], [[Bohemia]]
|death_place    = [[Stará Boleslav]], Bohemia
|titles         = [[Martyr]]
|attributes     = [[Crown (headgear)|Crown]], dagger, burning eagle on a banner
|patronage      = [[Prague]], [[Bohemia]], [[Czech Republic]]
|major_shrine   = [[St. Vitus Cathedral]], Prague
}}
Wenceslaus was considered a [[martyr]] and [[saint]] immediately after his death, when a cult of Wenceslaus grew up in [[Bohemia]] and in [[England]].<ref>Describing the [http://www.kb.se/codex-gigas/eng/Long/texter/calender/ Codex Gigas], a thirteenth-century manuscript from Bohemia in the Swedish National Library in Stockholm, it is stated: "All this bears witness to the outstanding importance of the cult of Vaclav in Bohemia at the time of the Devil's Bible's compilation. Moreover, all three festivals are inscribed in red ink, denoting their superlative degree."</ref> Within a few decades, four biographies of him were in circulation.<ref>The ''First Slavonic Life'' (in [[Old Church Slavonic]]), the anonymous ''{{ill|Crescente fide|cs}}'' (in Latin), the ''Passio sancti Venceslavi martyris'' (in Latin) by Gumpold, bishop of [[Mantua]] (d. 985), and ''Vita et passio sancti Venceslai et sancte Ludmile ave eius'' (in Latin) (''The Life and Passion of Saint Václav and his Grandmother Saint Ludmila'') by [[Strachkvas]] (Kristián) as described in the {{ill|Kristiánova legenda|cs}}.</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fJ6cVJttROwC |title=Hastening Toward Prague: Power and Society in the Medieval Czech Lands |via= Google Boeken |date=2001 |isbn=0812236130 |access-date=2013-11-20|last1=Wolverton |first1=Lisa |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press }}</ref> These [[hagiography|hagiographies]] had a powerful influence on the [[High Middle Ages]] concept of the ''rex justus'' (righteous king), a [[monarch]] whose power stems mainly from his great piety as well as his princely vigor.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mun.ca/mst/heroicage/issues/9/defries.html |title=Defries – St. Oswald's Martyrdom |publisher=Mun.ca |access-date=2013-11-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109143819/http://www.mun.ca/mst/heroicage/issues/9/defries.html |archive-date=2013-11-09}}</ref>

Referring approvingly to these hagiographies, the chronicler [[Cosmas of Prague]], writing in about the year 1119, states:<ref>Book I of the ''Chronica Boëmorum'', Quoted in Wolverton, ''op. cit.''</ref>

{{quote|But his deeds I think you know better than I could tell you; for, as is read in his ''Passion'', no one doubts that, rising every night from his noble bed, with bare feet and only one chamberlain, he went around to God’s churches and gave alms generously to widows, orphans, those in prison and afflicted by every difficulty, so much so that he was considered, not a prince, but the father of all the wretched.}}

Several centuries later this legend was asserted as fact by [[Pope Pius II]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kresadlo.cz/goodking.htm |title=Good King Wenceslas |publisher=Kresadlo.cz |access-date=2013-11-20}}</ref>

Although Wenceslaus was only a duke during his lifetime, Holy Roman Emperor [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]] posthumously "conferred on [Wenceslaus] the regal dignity and title", which is why he is referred to as "king" in legend and song.<ref name=mershman>Mershman,[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15587b.htm Francis. "St. Wenceslaus." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 8 January 2016</ref>

The [[hymn]] "Svatý Václave" (Saint Wenceslaus) or "[[Saint Wenceslas Chorale]]" is one of the oldest known Czech songs. Traceable to the 12th century AD, it is still among the most popular religious songs in the Bohemian lands. In 1918, at the founding of the modern Czechoslovak state, the song was discussed as a possible choice for the national anthem. During the [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia|Nazi occupation]], it was often played along with the Czech anthem.{{fact|date=December 2021}}

Wenceslaus's feast day is celebrated on [[September 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)|September 28]].<ref>''[http://days.pravoslavie.ru/en/Days/20140928.htm September 28/October 11] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129081145/http://days.pravoslavie.ru/en/Days/20140928.htm |date=2014-11-29 }}.'' Orthodox Calendar (PRAVOSLAVIE.RU).</ref><ref>''[http://oca.org/saints/lives/2014/09/28/102754-martyr-wenceslaus-the-prince-of-the-czechs Martyr Wenceslaus the Prince of the Czechs].'' OCA – Lives of the Saints.</ref> On this day, celebrations and a pilgrimage are held in the city of [[Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav|Stará Boleslav]], whereas the [[Translation (relic)|translation of his relics]], which took place in 938, is commemorated on [[March 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)|4 March]].<ref>''[http://days.pravoslavie.ru/en/Days/20140304.htm March 4/17] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129081307/http://days.pravoslavie.ru/en/Days/20140304.htm |date=2014-11-29 }}.'' Orthodox Calendar (PRAVOSLAVIE.RU).</ref> Since 2000, the September 28 feast day has been a [[Public holidays in the Czech Republic|public holiday in the Czech Republic]], celebrated as Czech Statehood Day.

===In legend===
[[File:Lebka vaclavova.JPG|thumb|upright=1.5|left|Cardinal [[Miloslav Vlk]] with the crowned skull of Saint Wenceslaus during a procession on 28 September 2006]]

Legends of Wenceslaus began to appear around the second half of the 10th century, several decades after his death, and spread throughout both Bohemia and abroad, including Italy, Germany, and even Russia. Such legends include the first Old Slavic legend from the 10th century, the Latin legend Crescente fide, Gumpold's legend, and Christian's legend.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2021668162/ | title=Latin Legends of Czech Saints: Vitus, Prokop and Wenceslas | website=[[Library of Congress]] }}</ref>

According to legend, one Count Radislas rose in rebellion and marched against King Wenceslaus. The latter sent a deputation with offers of peace, but Radislas viewed this as a sign of cowardice. The two armies were drawn up opposite each other in battle array, when Wenceslaus, to avoid shedding innocent blood, challenged Radislas to single combat. As Radislas advanced toward the king, he saw by Wenceslaus's side two angels, who cried: "Stand off!" Thunderstruck, Radislas repented his rebellion, threw himself from his horse at Wenceslaus's feet, and asked for pardon. Wenceslaus raised him and kindly received him again into favour.

A second enduring [[King asleep in mountain|legend]] claims an army of knights sleeps under [[Blaník]], a mountain in the [[Czech Republic]]. They will awake and, under the command of Wenceslaus, bring aid to the Czech people in their ultimate danger. There is a similar legend in [[Prague]] which says that when the Motherland is in danger or in its darkest times and close to ruin, the equestrian statue of King Wenceslaus in Wenceslaus Square will come to life, raise the army sleeping in Blaník, and upon crossing the [[Charles Bridge]] his horse will stumble and trip over a stone, revealing the legendary sword of Bruncvík. With this sword, King Wenceslaus will slay all the enemies of the Czechs, bringing peace and prosperity to the land.<ref>{{cite book|last=Košnář|first=Julius|title=Staropražské pověsti a legendy|year=2008|publisher=Nakladatelství XYZ|location=Prague|isbn=978-80-86864-86-0|page=289}}</ref>

==Legacy==
{{Listen
|filename=U.S. Army Band - Good King Wenceslaus.ogg
|title=Good King Wenceslas
|description=The first, third, and fifth verses, performed by the chorus of the [[United States Army Band|U. S. Army Band]]
}}
Wenceslaus is the subject of the popular [[Saint Stephen's Day]] (celebrated on December 26 in the West) carol "[[Good King Wenceslas]]". It was published by [[John Mason Neale]] in 1853, and may be a translation of a poem by Czech poet Václav Alois Svoboda{{fact|date=October 2021}}.
A supposed American spelling of the duke's name, "Wenceslaus," is occasionally encountered in later textual variants of the carol, although it was not used by Neale in his version, and in the U.S. the name usually is spelled Wenceslas, as in the [[Good King Wenceslas|carol]].<ref>''Wencesla-us'' is the [[Mediaeval Latin]] [[2nd declension|Second Declension]] form of the name.</ref> Wenceslaus is not to be confused with King [[Wenceslaus I of Bohemia]] (Wenceslaus I Premyslid), who lived more than three centuries later.

[[File:Wenceslas square statue daytime.JPG|thumb|[[Statue of Saint Wenceslas, Wenceslas Square|Statue of Saint Wenceslas]] on the eponymous square in Prague]]

At the beginning of the [[Hussite Wars]] Wenceslaus’s name was often invoked, and it was only later that he was overshadowed by Hussite warrior [[Jan Žižka]]. Later, even when the Hussites and Protestants gained the upper hand in Bohemia and the cult of Wenceslaus faded, he still remained a venerated figure throughout Bohemia, with [[Jan Hus]] himself often referencing Wenceslaus in his sermons.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4202365 | jstor=4202365 | last1=Odložilík | first1=Otakar | title=Good King Wenceslas: A Historical Sketch | journal=The Slavonic and East European Review | date=1929 | volume=8 | issue=22 | pages=120–130 }}</ref>  During the reign of [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles IV]], Wenceslaus’s image as a saint and martyr was often employed by Charles in his enterprises both at home and abroad, and in later years when the systematic Germanization of Bohemia began, Wenceslaus came to be considered a representation of the Czech national consciousness.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/central-european-history/article/wenceslas-looks-out-monarchy-locality-and-the-symbolism-of-power-in-fourteenthcentury-bavaria/6939CFE4F1AD7543B60E2B0602341707 | doi=10.1017/S0008938919000141 | title=Wenceslas Looks Out: Monarchy, Locality, and the Symbolism of Power in Fourteenth-Century Bavaria | date=2019 | last1=Scales | first1=Len | journal=Central European History | volume=52 | issue=2 | pages=179–210 | s2cid=165576967 }}</ref>

An [[Statue of Saint Wenceslas, Wenceslas Square|equestrian statue of Saint Wenceslaus]] and other patrons of Bohemia (St. Adalbert, St. Ludmila, St. Prokop and St. Agnes of Bohemia) are located on [[Wenceslaus Square]] in [[Prague]]. The statue is a popular meeting place in Prague. Demonstrations against the Communist regime were held there.<ref>[http://www.prague.cz/st-wenceslas-monument/ "St. Wenceslas Monument in Prague", Prague.cz]</ref>

His helmet and armour are on display inside Prague Castle.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://prague-castle.org/chapel.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080131140136/http://prague-castle.org/chapel.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=January 31, 2008 |title=Prague Castle: St Wenceslas Chapel |publisher=Prague Castle |access-date=2015-01-30}}</ref>

===In popular culture===
The lavish 1930 silent film [[St. Wenceslas (film)|''St. Wenceslas'']] was at the time the most expensive Czech film ever made.

[[Ogden Nash]] wrote a comic epic poem, "The Christmas that Almost Wasn't" (1957), in which a boy awakens Wenceslaus and his knights to save the kingdom of Lullapat from usurpers who have outlawed Christmas, with elements from the legend of Wenceslas.<ref>[[Ogden Nash]], ''The Christmas that Almost Wasn't'', [[Little, Brown and Company]], 1957 {{OCLC|1211904}}</ref>

The 1994 television film, ''Good King Wenceslas'', is a highly fictional account of his early life. The film stars [[Jonathan Brandis]] in the title role, supported by [[Leo McKern]], [[Stefanie Powers]], and [[Joan Fontaine]] as Ludmila.<ref>{{IMDb title|qid=Q1198889|id=tt0109919|title=Good King Wenceslas (1994)}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Saints}}
*[[Crown of Saint Wenceslas]]
*[[Sword of Saint Wenceslas]]
*[[Statues of Saints Norbert, Wenceslaus and Sigismund]]
*[[Good King Wenceslas]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071001165353/http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintw03.htm Patron Saints Index: ''St. Wenceslaus'']
*[http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=592 Catholic Online: ''St. Wenceslaus'']
*Rejzl, Jan (1995). [http://wenceslas.co.uk/ Good King Wenceslas: The Real Story] 

{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Vratislav I of Bohemia|Vratislav I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Duke of Bohemia]]|years=921–935}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Boleslav I of Bohemia|Boleslav I]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Monarchs of Bohemia}}
{{Christmas}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia| ]]
[[Category:900s births]]
[[Category:935 deaths]]
[[Category:Nobility from Bohemia]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:10th-century people from Bohemia]]
[[Category:10th-century Christian martyrs]]
[[Category:10th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:10th-century dukes in Europe]]
[[Category:10th-century murdered monarchs]]
[[Category:10th-century monarchs of Bohemia]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Vitus Cathedral]]
[[Category:Christian monarchs]]
[[Category:Czech nobility]]
[[Category:Czech royal saints]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic royal saints]]
[[Category:Christmas characters]]
[[Category:Czech folklore]]
[[Category:Czech murder victims]]
[[Category:Dukes of Bohemia]]
[[Category:Medieval child monarchs]]
[[Category:Medieval legends]]